Attention and Connections

I'm taking a coaching class right now. It’s called "The Coach Approach for Organizers." My purpose for taking this course is to learn about coaching and see how I can translate what I learn into my organizing business. In this newsletter, I'm going to share some ideas from an article called "A Brain-Based Approach to Coaching" by David Rock, based on an interview with Jeffrey M. Schwartz. There are four ideas about attention from this article that I find interesting. Perhaps you will find some of them interesting as well.

Throughout the article, Rock and Schwartz discuss the relationship between our attention and the connections we make. In this newsletter, I quote ideas from the article and then briefly apply these ideas to my business. The ideas may seem quite simple and one may even think "of course," but I think these ideas are quite profound and challenging to think about and apply.

• "Where you focus your attention you make connections."
This class is for eight weeks. It is designed for organizers who want to learn about coaching. Not only is there work going on during class time, there is an expectation that attention is given to the concepts in and out of class. Specifically this means thinking about concepts while I'm with clients and talking with practice clients. My area of attention during this time is on coaching concepts, but the connections that I am making are with my clients.

• "Focus your attention on something new, and you make new connections."
The language that is being introduced in this class is new. As I focus my attention on this language with my clients and practice clients, I'm able to make connections with what is being talked about in class with what is going on in "real life." New language can give us new ways of seeing the world.

• "…if we can give this insight more attention, we increase its chances of making a long term difference…"
If I'm able to continue, even after this class ends, to keep my attention on the language and concepts that I'm learning, there's a better chance that I will be able to incorporate them into my profession. I will be able to use them naturally and unconsciously.

• "Where we choose to put our attention changes our brain and changes how we see and interact with the world."
I'm convinced that for the last six weeks my interactions with the world, my work, and my interactions with friends and family are different because of the attention that I have had on the concepts of this class.

Final Note

If you have any thoughts on attention I'd love to hear them. Finally, if you are interested in learning more about coaching I've included a link to coaching and also to The Coaching Approach for Organizers .